For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2014-063177 discloses a photoelectric connector that can perform the transmission and reception of an optical signal and the supply of power at the same time. The device disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2014-063177 includes:
a connector housing that provides a physical connection interface to a connector to be engaged; an electric contact assembly that is physically incorporated into the connector housing and provides an electrical input/output (I/O) interface; and
an optical assembly that is physically incorporated into the connector housing and provides an optical I/O interface.
The optical assembly has an optical engine that actively generates an optical signal, receives an optical signal, and processes the optical signal.
An electric I/O, an optical I/O, or both the electric I/O and the optical I/O are transmitted through the connector housing by the connection interface.